


Road to Freedom

by Daydreamisallihave



Category: Mad Max Series (Movies)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Furiosa works for him but has had enough shit, Hurt/Comfort, Immortan Joe is not a warlord but still an ashole who deals with drugs guns and human trafficking, Max Mad: Fury Road AU, Mention of weapons, Mentions of Cancer, Nux is a lost boy saved by Immortan as a kid so he works for him as if Joe owned him, Nuxable in chapter 5!, Romance, Sort of modern day au, Warning: mention of drugs, anyway all the fic is very nuxable since chapter 5, eventually focused on Nux and Capable relationship give me time, mention of human trafficking, mention of violence, modern au revision of the movie, well all it is going to feel quite nuxable but it's specially evident in Capable or Nux chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-29
Updated: 2015-09-21
Packaged: 2018-04-17 21:03:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4681379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daydreamisallihave/pseuds/Daydreamisallihave
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Everybody knew what were the real business of Immortan Joe, yet nobody did anything to stop it, and he moved around the city like he owned it. Probably he did. You don't get that rich, and that powerful, by having garages and repairing vehicles, no matter how many you had and how successsful they were. Drug dealing, guns dealing, probably even human trafficking...yes, that's how you get to be rich and powerful enough to own a city. The leaders of the city, the police, everybody did as Joe said, nobody got their noses into his business. Were they scared of him? Had he bought them with his money? Max didn't know. Maybe both. Probably both."</p><p>AU of the movie, Immortan Joe's business is about drugs, weapons and human trafficking. He has orphan brainwashed boys working for him, and beautiful adopted girls (but we know what they actually are, and it's disgusting, yes.) Furiosa works for him, but she had had enough of his shit, she's going to rescue the girls and ran away to her lost home. In her way, she'll meet Max, and ex cop with PTSD, and Nux, an orphan boy rescued by Joe as a kid, who used to work for him and idolice him but who is opening his eyes to the truth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Max

**Author's Note:**

> Here I am with another Mad Max: Fury Road revision. This is set in a sort of Modern/Our actual world AU (and I say 'sort of' because I don't want to believe things like this actually happen). When I finish this fic (if I do), I want to write another following this, post-movie.
> 
> This chapter is from Max point of view, but I want to change the point of view in every chapter, more or less. Probably I'm going to end up writting more about Nux and Capable, because I love them and their relationship, I ship them hard, and I'm used to write about them.
> 
> Next chapter is going to be Nux's.
> 
> I'm still being pretty new at writting fics, and it's the first time I aim to write something as long and as complex as I want this to be. I've never wrote an action scene before, for example.
> 
> Apologizes if it's not good enough, and if there are spelling mistakes or something like that, English is not my first language.
> 
> As always, thanks for reading, and let me know your thoughts.
> 
> I hope to post Nux's chapter before monday.

Max drove his car around the building next to the massive 'The Citadel' garage once more. It seemed to be closed, but Max knew better. The garages of Joe, or Immortan Joe as he called himself, were never closed, specially not the biggest one.  
Everybody knew that driving through Joe's domains were dangerous, but he didn't care.  
Max didn't know why he kept going to that garages, trying to catch glimpses of what actually happened inside them.  
Not like he could change it, not like he could do anything about it...and why should he care about it anyway? Still, he found himself driving around Immortan Joe's garages every night.

Everybody knew what were the real business of Immortan Joe, yet nobody did anything to stop it, and he moved around the city like he owned it. Probably he did. You don't get that rich, and that powerful, by having garages and repairing vehicles, no matter how many you had and how successsful they were.  
Drug dealing, guns dealing, probably even human trafficking...yes, that's how you get to be rich and powerful enough to own a city. The leaders of the city, the police, everybody did as Joe said, nobody got their noses into his business.  
Were they scared of him? Had he bought them with his money? Max didn't know. Maybe both. Probably both.

Max wondered, not for the first time, if he could have done something about this if he were still a cop. Probably not, he knew it. And anyway, why he cared about it? He wondered, not for the first time either.

Max had being dismissed from the police forces long time ago, when the doctor had declared him unable to work as a policeman.  
Post-Traumatic stress disorder, the doctor had said. The ghosts of whom I loved the most, dead because I didn't help them, inside my head, torturing me as I deserve, Max had thought.  
_Where are you? Help us Max. You promised to help us._  
His fault, all his fault, always his fault.  
I tried, I did try, tried to help, but I couldn't. He had said to the voices the first time that flashbacks and visions clouded his mind.  
_You let us die, Max. Where were you, Max._ The ghosts had replied, and Max had agreed, his fault, all his fault, always his fault.

Max closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to stop the voices and the visions that were taking over him again.  
_Help us, Max._  
Another turn around the building and he would leave, he didn't want to press his luck more.  
That was his last thought before a car appeared suddenly from a side road and stopped in front of his. Max managed to stop the car before crash against it.  
_Where were you, Max._  
Glass fell over him as the front glass of his car were shattered, several arms pulling him, tugging him out of the driver seat and outside the car.  
_You let us die, Max._  
Blackness, as his attempts to fight the men were stopped by a hard hit to his head, and he fell unconscious.  
No more voices, no more visions, no more ghosts.

“Do you think that hit his head with an iron bar was a good idea?” Max heard a voice saying as he was slowly recovering consciousness. “You could have killed him. Well, he could still die, concussion and that shit.” Definitely, not a voice inside his head.

“So what? Immortan Joe didn't say he wanted him alive, did he?” Max heard another voice replying, and when he opened his eyes he saw a couple of men, arguing in front of him. Shaved heads, tattoos, scars and motor oil covering them, the boys who worked for Immortan Joe.

“We don't know that, maybe he wanted him for something.”  
What could Immortan Joe want from him? Torture him for fun? Sell his organs? (Who knew what kind of business the man actually had?), maybe the boys were misinformed and he actually wanted them to kill him?  
All the hypotesis seemed to be equally probable to Max, but he bet for Joe wanting him dead.

Max opened his eyes, looking around quickly. He seemed to be in some kind of back room inside the garage. His hands were chained together, but not his legs. Good.  
The boys turned towards him and he quickly closed his eyes again.

“What did you want me to do? He was fighting back, did you want him to escape? No. Then shut up.”

When he thought the boys weren't looking at him, Max jumped onto his feet and threw himself against the closest one, who yelled in surprise, almost falling to the ground. He did fell to the floor when Max head-butted him hard, breaking his nose, pulling Max over him.  
The other boy grabbed Max's shoulders, trying to get him off the boy. Max allowed him to jerk him back to his feet, and turned around to punch at his face, making the boy lose his grip on him long enough for Max to run outside the room...just to find himself surrounded by more boys.  
He should have guessed.

Max ran through the immense garage, trying to find an exit, but more and more boys followed him as they realized what was going on.  
_You promised to help us, Max._  
There was no exit, all the doors were closed, there were too many boys.  
_Where were you, Max._  
The boys grabbed Max again, shoving him onto the floor. This time there were no blow to his head, but a syringe into his neck. Max didn't want to know what the syringe was.  
_You let us die, Max._  
The boys threw him back into the room and he fell unconscious again. But this time, he wasn't mercifully free of voices and visions.  
They were there, the ghosts of his past, long time dead, the people he couldn't help, the people he let died, yelling at him, dying in front of his eyes.  
_I tried, I tried to help, I tried._ Max whimpered inside his head.  
_Your fault, you let them die, all your fault._ Max replied to himself.

And then, there was darkness again.


	2. Nux

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> " Nux woke up to a fuss of shouting, engines beginning to run, boys running, yelling, their cars racing outside the garages.  
> “What?” Nux woke up, confused. “What's going on?” He asked, getting out of his car.
> 
> “Treason!” His friend Slit shouted. “The Imperator, Furiosa, has kidnapped Immortan's daughters and has run away!” "
> 
> After found out that Furiosa has kidnapped Immortan Joe's girls, his boys get ready to pursuit her and bring them back.
> 
> This chapter is from Nux point of view, showing more about Nux, Immortan Joe and "his boys" backstory.  
> Also, there's Slit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy this new chapter.  
> As always, apologize if there are mistakes and if my English is not good enough.  
> Thanks for reading, let me know your thoughts in the comments!
> 
> Also, thanks to Liisiko, whose comments encourage me to keep writting.
> 
> Next chapter will be Furiosa.

Nux stepped back to admire the car he had just repaired.  
Honestly, it had been easy, too easy for him to enjoy it, only having to change the frontal glass.  
The real fun would start when he began to modificate it. Nux couldn't wait.  
He kneeled into the car, looking around, thinking about what he could do with the inside of the car before actually work in the engine.

Nux hadn't even thought about how to start when his head started spinning and he felt too weak to even support himself on his knees.  
Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to start working so soon after his last chemo session, which he had had just a couple of hours before.  
But he must work. It was the least thing he could do for Immortan Joe after all he had done for him.

Nux felt a wave of nausea and decided that, ok, maybe it wasn't the best time for working on the car, he could postpone it. He would rest for half an hour and he'd start working again.  
His own car was parked next the the one he was working on, and Nux sat down inside it, closing his eyes, and without meaning it, he dozed off, feverish dreams taking over his mind.  
He dreamt of the past, the future, of strange, desertic lands, and of cars.

Nux had been an orphan boy, he never had a host family, he had lived in an orphanage until Immortal Joe had taken him when he was more or less five, he didn't really remember. His only memories before the Immortan were loneliness, fear, cold and darkness.  
Immortan Joe had rescued him, giving him a home and lots of brothers, training him to be a mechanic and giving him a job in his garages when he was old enough.

Nux wasn't the only boy the Immortan had saved, all the other boys who worked with him had been orphans at some point.  
It seemed Immortan Joe had made of rescuing orphan children his way of life, besides his ever growing business.  
Nux saw them from time to time, cars with children coming to the garages after being taken by Immortan Joe.  
Some of them came back a few days later as apprentices of mechanic, others didn't. Nux guessed they were sent to other jobs, or maybe Immortan Job found them other families.  
Maybe Immortan Joe only wanted the bests working for him. Nux liked to think that.

There were girls inside the cars sometimes too, but they never stayed as mechanics.  
Nux supposed Immortan Joe had found them families, but he knew that the Immortan had adopted at least five of them himself.  
Nux had seen them with Immortan Joe a day he had visited the garages,a few years back. Most of them seemed to be more or less Nux's age, but they hadn't said a word, hadn't looked up from the floor. Nux had thought that maybe they were intimidated by so many boys.  
They were beautiful nonetheless, shiny and chrome as a good car.

Immortan Joe didn't go to the garages often, only every three or four months. Probably, Nux thought, he had more important things to do than visit them.  
But everytime he went, he made sure to let the boys know that he loved them as a father.  
Not that they could forget the man who had saved them and given them a new life, but still, it was nice to hear it.

Nux had never lived with the Immortan, neither had done it any of the other boys.  
They all lived in groups of four or five in different houses, all close to each other. It felt like family, you never had to be alone, you never had to be afraid. No matter they barely saw the Immortan and they didn't live with him, they loved him as a father and they knew he was their savior.

For Nux, Immortan Joe hadn't only saved his life once, but twice.  
First, taking him from the orphanage.  
Second, when the doctors found he had cancer.  
Immortan Joe had allowed him to have a good treatment, had given him days off when he needed them, and Nux couldn't be grateful enough.  
He knew he couldn't serve the Immortan enough to pay for everything he had done for him.

Nux woke up to a fuss of shouting, engines beginning to run, boys running, yelling, their cars racing outside the garages.  
“What?” Nux woke up, confused. “What's going on?” He asked, getting out of his car.

“Treason!” His friend Slit shouted, getting out of the room where he was watching the man they had found spying outside the garage, the ex-owner of the car Nux had been repairing.  
“The Imperator, Furiosa, has kidnapped Immortan's daughters and has run away!”

That was the last thing Nux had expected. He didn't really know Furiosa, but she had always seemed serious and serene, a good and loyal worker. Nux had never imagined her kidnapping people (unless their were enemies of the business, maybe then she would kidnap them), less if they were the daughters of Immortan Joe.

“What are you doing?” Nux asked when he saw Slit taking his motorbike.

“What do you think? I'm going after Furiosa, joining the hunt. Immortan Joe wants his girls back, untouched and unharmed.” Slit replied, the scars of his cheeks looking even more scary when he smiled. “Everybody is after Furiosa, even the Immortan himself. You sleep too much.”

Nux's eyes widened in excitement. This was his time to do something great, something historical, to prove himself in front of Immortan Joe.  
He jumped into his car, ready to go.

“Now, what are you doing?” Slit shouted before Nux could start the engine.  
“Bringing the girls back.” Nux shouted back, looking at Slit like if he were stupid.

“No, come on Nux, you can't go! You look like shit, you just fell asleep while repairing a car!” Slit replied, and he glanced towards the room where they kept their prisioner. “Besides, somebody has to stay and watch the spy.”

“What?! It's your turn to do that! I'm not going to stay here doing your job and missing the fun.” Nux replied, indignant. He saw the defiant glare Slit shot him and he stopped. Nux didn't want to fight with him, and honestly he could understand him. Everybody would hate to miss an opportunity like this.  
Nux tried to quickly think something.

“Alright, you know what, bring the prisioner here and throw him onto the back seat of my car. We bring him with us, watching him and pursuing Furiosa at the same time.” It might not be his most brilliant idea, and Nux had to admit it had a lot of cons, but it was something.

Slit looked at him like if it were the worst idea ever, and probably it was, but he just shrugged and nodded.  
He went to the room and came back with the prisioner. Even tied up, the man kept fighting and muttering things about his car, but luckily Slit was strong too, and with his and Nux's joined forces they managed to get him onto Nux's car back seat, lying down and tied up enough so he wouldn't move.

“Ok, now let's go.”

It didn't take them long to join the other vehicles, Nux driving his car, Slit next to him on his motorbike.  
As soon as Nux saw the Immortan's car, he drove towards him. It had been so long since the last time he saw him, and this close...neither had the Immortan seen him drive.

“Immortan! Immortan Joe!” Nux shouted, driving next to the Immortan's car. He could see Slit roll his eyes at him, but Nux didn't care, and then...then Immortan Joe looked at him, briefly but directly, and Nux almost forgot how to drive.

“He looked at me!” Nux yelled, beyond happiness.  
“He didn't look at you, he looked at the prisioner.” Slit replied, but he was laughing too. “Wondering what the hell he was doing in your car and thinking all the ways you can fuck this up.”

“No, he looked right at me!” Nux shouted back.  
“He was looking past you, trying to find Furiosa!” Another laugh from Slit.  
“He looked at me, right at me, he knows I'm going to bring his girls back, he's waiting for me!”

Nux hit the gas, Slit following him, still laughing,driving past all the cars until they were on top of the group, and then further.  
This was their moment, their time to prove to Immortan Joe that they deserved his love most than any of the others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I hope you liked this! I love Nux, I love writting him.
> 
> I hope you liked the idea of the lancers being motorbikers driving next to the cars, because putting them on top of the cars in a modern AU seemed a bit weird.
> 
> I know Nux seems very naive, stupid even, but you have to understand the boy, with his backstory. Also, he's not an idiot, he knows about Immortan's illegal business of drugs and guns, but at this point it's kind of normal for him, and he idolizes Immortan too much to care anyway.
> 
> Also, why are Nux and Slit so cute? They are the baddies!
> 
> Thank you for reading, your comments and kudos keep me going!


	3. Furiosa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "The truck was big, and more important, resistant. Besides, the boys had made a few modifications in it, to the engine, the wheels, and Furiosa didn’t know to what more, making it faster than it might appear and even more tough.  
> The sides of the truck were marked with Joe’s brand, a skull surrounded by flames, so everybody would know it was his and they wouldn’t mess with it.  
> For Furiosa, that was a curse. While she drove that truck, she’d be recognizable, everybody in the city, and maybe even outside, knew Joe’s brand. "
> 
> Furiosa's chapter, her escape from Joe's band!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter had been really difficult for me to write, for a lot of reasons: English not being my first language, so sometimes I have problems thinking how to put things in words (though it happens in my mother tongue too..), how difficult I find to write Furiosa, how hard is to write parallels of the fury road in a modern au (my imagination is...not good), and my ignorance about vehicles (I actually googled the parts of a truck).
> 
> But anyway, I hope this new chapter is enjoyable.
> 
> I feel I should have explained something when I started this, and you need to know now: I imagine this happening not in the middle of the city, but in the suburbs, in that places where you can find the warehouses and all that things, there's were joe has his garages, and they are running through them from one side of the city to the other, but always surrounding it, without getting inside.  
> Can you imagine this actually happening in the middle of a city? Crazy.
> 
> I know that most of what happens here is implausible, specially the water tank thing (I'll talk more about this at the end notes, so I won't spoil you), but I did my best. Please, roll with me in this. Think of this as a bad movie with a low budget and tons of evident fake scenes.  
> I'm totally unable of write good action scenes and I know it. Apologizes, apologizes.
> 
> Thanks for reading, apologizes if there are mistakes, I hope you enjoy the ride, and let me know your thoughts in the comments!
> 
>  
> 
> Next will be Toast.

Furiosa looked in the rearview mirror, watching the car that followed the truck. It wasn’t the only vehicle accompanying her, two motorbikes also rode in front of her. Joe wouldn’t let his goods go unescorted.

Maybe at first thought, a truck wouldn’t seem to be the most elegant vehicle, maybe it wasn’t the kind of vehicle you expect from a lord of crime, but elegance wasn’t what Joe needed to deliver his products.  
The truck was big, and more important, resistant. Besides, the boys had made a few modifications in it, to the engine, the wheels, and Furiosa didn’t know to what more, making it faster than it might appear and even more tough.  
The sides of the truck were marked with Joe’s brand, a skull surrounded by flames, so everybody would know it was his and they wouldn’t mess with it.

For Furiosa, that was a curse. While she drove that truck, she’d be recognizable, everybody in the city, and maybe even outside, knew Joe’s brand. She needed to get out of the city, and she needed to do it quickly. By now, Joe sure knew what she had done, probably he had already sent his boys after her. At least, the car and bikes that drove with her didn’t seem to know anything.  
When she took the wrong turn, a biker slowed down until he was next to Furiosa’s window.

“Aren’t we supposed to go to the People Eater’s place? Give him the drugs?” That was the plan, as usual, drugs for him and guns for the Bullets Farmer. Such nicknames this men decided to call themselves, honestly, they even call her Imperator, like if she were some roman king.

At Furiosa’s silence, the biker shrugged and drove in front of her again. This boys were used to follow her orders. Furiosa knew what she was doing, she had planned it during weeks.

The other bands of the city usually didn’t mess with The Immortan’s vehicles, knowing well that he was more powerful. He could crush them in a heartbeat. But there was a new band in the place, some bikers, who didn’t seem to catch the idea, and had tried to attack Joe’s vehicles a few times. Slow learners.Joe were going to kill them all as soon as he could get bothered with it.  
But fortunately, he hadn’t done it yet.

The stupid band was going to unknowingly help Furiosa, if everything went as she had planned, and she drove right into their newly reclaimed territory. She hoped the bikers would attacked them, so the bikes and car that accompanied her would be distracted getting rid of them, and Furiosa could hit the gas and leave everybody behind.

According to the plan, the bikers started to show up, getting closer to the truck. Furiosa signaled at them, and the car and the motorbikes drove right to them. Good, now Furiosa could try to lose them.

On the rearview mirror, Furiosa saw a car getting closer, followed closely by the rest of Joe’s pack. No, no, that was bad. She had hoped they wouldn’t find them so soon. The truck was quick, but the vehicles of Joe’s boys were quicker, and soon Furiosa had them on her.

The first thing the closest car did was hit one of the enemy bikers. At least that was good. The second was shout to Furiosa’s companions, letting them know what was happening, what Furiosa had done. She needed to lose them and she needed to do it now.

Joe’s boys were reckless, driving towards the truck, trying to jump onto it, trying to make it stop or slow it down, but at least they weren’t trying to crash against it or shooting at it. They knew what was its cargo and they couldn’t harm it. Still, they were too close, it was dangerous, and Furiosa drove from side to side, hitting them and getting them out of the road. 

Furiosa could hear muffled screams from the back of the truck, but she couldn’t check on the girls now. She hoped they were holding onto something, so they wouldn’t be thrown from side to side of the truck, but there weren’t a safe way for them to get into the cab with Furiosa. Not with her driving at that speed and Joe’s boys trying to stop them.  
One of the cars managed to get in front of the truck, trying make her slow down, but Furiosa knew that the truck was more resistant, so she just drove faster, hitting the car until she got it out of her way. 

One of the Joe’s bikers had managed to drive right next to Furiosa, and he jumped from his bike onto the truck, clutched to the door, balancing on the little step next to it, trying to break Furiosa window. Unceremoniously, she threw him off the truck. For Furiosa, this boys were insane, they seemed kamikazes, risking and losing his own lives to help Joe, to win his approval. She pitied them.

Her plan wasn’t going to work now that everybody was following her, she couldn’t lose them. She had thought another thing, in case something like this would happen, but it was dangerous and it was uncertain if it would work, but it was their only chance. To make it work she needed to be several meters ahead of Joe’s vehicles. Furiosa hit the gas and hoped for the best.

Fortunately, the fastest cars and them who had been ahead of Joe’s pack had been crushed by Furiosa’s truck, and when she reached the water tank she was looking for, she was enough minutes ahead of the cars, or at least she hoped she was.  
Furiosa stopped the truck next to a water tank and jumped out of the cab quickly. She opened the trailer, finding the five girls looking at her with wide, scared eyes. They were alright, if only a bit bruised and dirty.

“Out, get into the cab.” Furiosa instructed them. One of the girls opened her mouth to ask something, bit Furiosa only roared, “now”, and they quickly obey her.

Furiosa took a heavy chain from the trailer, attached to a big, iron hook. It was heavy as hell, but Furiosa managed to drag it and tie it to the water tank’s wooden legs. Having a metallic, strong arm was useful sometimes.  
She attached the other end of the chain to the truck. She hoped this would work, she hoped the truck were strong enough to break the legs supporting the tank, and the chain long enough to allow the truck to be far enough, so the tank wouldn’t land on top of it and crush it.

Joe’s pack were almost there , and although Furiosa needed them close for her plan to work, she needed to be quick.  
She walked back to the cab, the girls were sat down on the wide seat behind the driver’s seat, holding each other and looking out the window.

“You.” Furiosa pointed to the short haired one, Toast was her name. “I need you to drive.” The girl seemed insecure, but she shifted onto the driver’s seat without hesistation.

“Hit the gas until you feel the legs of the tank break, okay?” She didn’t mention her concerns about the truck being powerful enough. It had to be. “I have to be at the back of the truck so I can unhook the chain from the truck once the tank had fallen. Once I do that, drive fast until you can’t see any of Joe’s cars, ok?”

Toast bit her lip, but nodded. Furiosa had to admit it, this girls were brave. Maybe they had a chance after all.  
She didn’t lose time and ran back to the trailer, getting inside and kneeling next to the door.  
“Drive!” She shouted, Joe’s cars almost on them.

Furiosa could see the chain tightening, the wooden legs supporting the tank creaking. Come on, come on. 

Finally, when the cars were just a couple of meter away, when the truck seemed to have got stuck without advance more, it pulled again and the legs broke. Right in time.   
The water tank fell down, crushing the cars closer to the truck, and generating a wave of water that threw back the rest of the cars.

The truck had been far enough of the truck for it to not land on top of it, but a wave of water hit the trailer, making Furiosa almost fall out of it. She managed to recover her balance and unhook the chain.  
“Drive, drive!” She shouted, hoping the girls would hear her, and the truck sped up, away from the mess of water and cars.

Furisa needed to go back to the cab, she couldn’t leave the girls there alone.   
Being grateful that Toast didn’t drive as fast as her, Furiosa stepped out of the trailer and onto the tiny plataform that surrounded the trailer and joined it with the cab of the truck. Trying to keep her balance, she advanced towards the cab, pressed against the hot metal. Furiosa cursed under her breath. Look at her, doing the same crazy things than Joe’s kamikaze boys. The girls yelped when they heard the knock on the door, but calmed down when they saw it was Fuirosa, and they helped her to get inside the cab. She thanked her metallic arm once more.

Right when Furiosa was thinking they would have a moment of peace, she saw on the mirror a Joe’s car ricing quickly towards them. It seemed to have been quick enough to avoid the water tank falling. Damn were this boys.

When the car was close enough, Furiosa grabbed the wheel, startling Toast, and began to turn. “Don’t slow down!” She instructed Toast when she felt her doing so. “No matter what, don’t.” Furiosa directed the truck towards the car until the truck rammed it, making him roll off the road. The five girls screamed horrified, but Toast didn’t slow down.

When they were away from the last crash and no other car had showed up, Furiosa allowed them to stop, it seemed more or less safe. They were at the limit of the city, and Joe’s cars couldn’t chase them in a while. She needed to switch sides with Toast, and the girls seemed to be in need for a rest to clean up and take care of possible injuries. Besides, the truck was also touched, and she needed to do a few, quick repairs.

It was clear that it had been a mistake when a bloodied man limped from the corner and stopped in front of them, pointing a gun towards her. Furiosa guessed he had come from any of the crashed cars, but he wasn’t a Joe’s boy. He wondered who he was and what he was doing there, but it didn’t matter now.

Furiosa was sure she could beat the injured man, but she didn’t want to hurt anyone else in front of the girls, and she was afraid the man could shoot at them. She raised her hands, showing she was unarmed. Before she could do anything else, the blonde girl, Angharad, stepped front.

“We are not going back.” She said, voice steady.

The man had a look of confusion in his eyes, but also craziness. He was like a cornered animal, ready to lash out, and one couldn’t guess how he was going to react. Furiosa hated it. Without lower the gun, the man stepped closer to the truck.

“Not going back either.” A hoarse voice replied.

So he was running away from Joe too. Furiosa could work with that. The enemy of my enemy is my ally, it was said.  
“You can come with us.” She offered, handing out his hand to him as an offer of peace, hoping the man wouldn’t decide that he could just shoot them, steal the truck and leave them there. Furiosa was ready to fight.

The man looked from girl to girl without say anything for what it seemed like an eternity. Finally, he nodded, but he didn’t shake Furiosa’s hand. She didn’t care.

“Keys.” The man grunted, and Furiosa shook her head.

“No, I drive. I know this truck, I can drive it better.” She said. The man grunted again, but sat down on the passenger seat, for Furiosa’s relief.

Once the man had washed the blood of his face and the girls were settle down on the back seat, Furiosa drove the truck outside the city.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, it was worse than a low budget movie, I lied.
> 
> I felt horrible for turning a wonderful scene like the sand storm into this water tank thing, but I really didn't know what more to do.
> 
> It wasn't like Furiosa could summon a tornado to help her, so I told my best friend I was thinking about change the sand for water, a water tank breaking or something like that, and she agreed it might be alright, and she hadn't got any other idea. (She actually wanted me to make the tank explode, gave Furiosa a bazooka and shoot it. It didn't have to be he water tank, just make things EXPLODE. She's a Mad Max sould and I love her.)
> 
> I imagine the water tank like one of those big things supported by long wood legs that you see in movies but that probably doesn't actually exist (At least, in my country the don't).
> 
> The car following Furiosa was Nux.  
> How did he survive the crash? (cos he's alive of course, nuxable is coming)I don't know, but he's hard as a nut.  
> Max didn't bring him with him since they are not chained together, so not Nux attacking the truk, sorry.  
> How did Max survive the crash? I don't know either, it was the power of his wide shoulders and hard head, I guess.
> 
> I didn't make Furiosa and Max fighting hover the truck because it seemed a bit strange in this context, and this pacific solution suited me well.  
> Also, Max has put two and two together for what he knows about Joe and what he has head in the garage and in Nux car, and he knows who this girls are (and what they actually are).
> 
> I hope I didn't dissapoint you too much!  
> Please don't leave, I promise I'll improve.
> 
> Thanks for reading, your comments and kudos keep me going!


	4. Toast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Toast could feel her heart still beating hard inside her chest.  
> Driving the big truck had been scary, but also exciting, even if had been only hardly ten minutes, it had felt like freedom…she wished Furiosa would ask her to drive another time.  
> Furiosa had driven the truck outside the city, but Toast knew that didn’t mean they were out of danger, not until they were on the open road and could lose Joe and his boys. Now, they could still find them.  
> And there was a new danger, the man who had joined them. Toast didn’t trust him."
> 
> Furiosa and the sisters know that they must leave the city and reach the open road if they want to lose Joe's boys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here I am with a new chapter full of implausible situation and worse and faker special effects that in a bad, low buget movie.
> 
> Apologize's in advance.
> 
> This chapter was as difficult to write as the previous, I can't write accion scenes, and it's so hard to write paralles of the fury road in a modern au.
> 
> I feel I have too much influence from Batman...a big baddie that terrifies everybody in the town including police and the leaders, so he does what he wants (Falcone/Joe), a bridge over a lake being the only way to leave the city (like Gotham)...  
> I guess then Furiosa is Batman and Max is Robin. Hum.
> 
> Luckily for me, next chapter will have people interacting with each other and talking, insead of action and action.  
> And even better, Capable will meet Nux! <3
> 
> Well, I'm sorry if the chapter is not very good, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.
> 
> Your comments and kuddos keep me writting!

Toast could feel her heart still beating hard inside her chest.

Driving the big truck had been scary, but also exciting, even if had been only hardly ten minutes, it had felt like freedom…she wished Furiosa would ask her to drive another time.

Furiosa had driven the truck outside the city, but Toast knew that didn’t mean they were out of danger, not until they were on the open road and could lose Joe and his boys. Now, they could still find them.

And there was a new danger, the man who had joined them. Toast didn’t trust him.

Right now, he wasn’t doing anything very threatening, sitting down in silent, but Toast didn’t forget that he had pointed a gun to them. And anyway, he was a stranger, and a man.

He hadn’t talked with them at all since he got into the truck except to ask Furiosa where they were going, and Furiosa had told him, explaining to him the dream that all the women in that truck were chasing.

The Green Place of the Many Mothers.

Apparently, it was some kind of women association, where women took care of each other and helped each other, specially orientated to women in need, like women running from abusive relationships or single mothers. They hosted them, gave them jobs, and helped them as best as they could.

Furiosa had told them that the association owned a complex of houses, all joined for a big garden in the middle. She had grown up there, her mother had been a single mother helped by the association at first, and later she had joined as one of the Many Mothers.

It sounded wonderfully, truly, but Furiosa hadn’t been there in more than twenty years, and Toast couldn’t shake away the uneasy sensation of being chasing something that didn’t really exist.

She didn’t tell that to her sisters, they were scared enough. It had taken them so long to escape from Joe…

Toast had tried to tell her fears to Angharad, though, but the girl was a true believer in the existence of the Green Place, and has told Toast that she has to believe, and keep her hopes high.

It was Angharad who had convinced the other girls to run away with Furiosa when she told them about the Green Place where she grew up. It was scary, it was dangerous, but they would be free.

Furiosa was talking with the strange man again, and Toast tried to listen discretely, she wanted to know what was going on.

She didn’t liked what she heard.

Apparently, they were going to arrive to a lake, and they needed to cross it, there were a long bridge. Then, they would be on the open road with higher opportunities to lose Joe’s boys. Toast didn’t like the idea, what if suddenly Joe’s boys appeared while they were driving through the bridge. Lots of cars and a narrow bridge didn’t seem very safe.

The bridge seemed to be controlled by another band, according to Furiosa, and honestly, everything in this world was controlled by bands? It was horrible. They worked with trucks, cranes, and all kind of heavy vehicles. They didn’t sound very welcoming.

Anyway, usually other bands didn’t mess with Immortan Joe’s stuff, and obviously they weren’t going to allow a truck marked like his and full with his goods to cross the bridge without joe having told them previously.

But Furiosa had made a deal with them, she would give them all the drugs and guns of the trailer if they allowed them to cross and blocked the bridge after that. They can say they were doing reparations on it or whatever they wanted.

Five more minutes of silent driving and Toast could see the lake. It was bigger than she had thought, and the bridge seemed to be eternal, she couldn’t see the end. She was liking the plan less and less.

Furiosa stopped the truck in front of the bridge, in which seemed to be a scrapping. There were men on it, looking at the truck, and Toast didn’t like their appearance, they looked too much like Joe’s boys and like Joe himself.

Her sisters were looking around too, seeming as distrustful and scared as Toast. Dag murmured something about same monsters with different fur.

Furiosa got out of the truck and the strange man shifted to the driver’s seat. If he tried to drive without Furiosa, Toast would knock him until he stopped.

She looked through the window and saw that Furiosa was talking with the men, and their discussion seeming to be heating up. Wouldn’t they want to allow them to pass now? It can’t be true. They were taking longer than necessary, and Toast didn’t like it.

Suddenly, Dag shifted on her seat.

“Don’t you hear that?” She said before turn around and look through the back glass.

It took Toast a moment, but Toast finally heard it too: Cars approaching. No, no, no.

“It’s Joe, it’s him.” Dag said with a panicked expression, and Cheedo tugged at her until she held her, the younger girl hiding her face on Dag’s chest.

Dag was right, there were cars approaching, racing towards the bridge. Not as many cars as earlier, just a couple, but on top of them was Joe himself, faster that the others, he would be on them in less than a minute.

Furiosa and the men seemed to notice, and they rushed towards their respective vehicles. For the look in the men’s faces, they seemed to believe that Joe was going to shred them, thinking that they were helping Furiosa in her escape.

As soon as Furiosa got into the truck, the strange man hit the gas and raced towards the bridge.

The men were trying to block the entrance of the bridge with their cranes, but Joe was too fast and he didn’t hesitated and ran his SUV over everybody and everything on his way.

The cranes managed to block the pass to the cars coming after Joe’s car, though, and sticking her head out of the window Toast could see Joe’s man fighting against the crane’s man, and she didn’t care who win as long as it gave them time.

She saw Joe’s car racing towards them, closer, closer, and when he looked at her in the eyes, Toast felt hard to breath. She hided into the cab again.

“We have to go faster, faster.” She yelled, and the strange man behind the wheel only grunted as a reply.

Toast knew the car that Joe was driving, his more prized car, his boys had modified it and it was strong and fast, faster than any vehicle Toast knew, and it was full of strange gadgets.

This was the end, they couldn’t make it, Toast couldn’t have hope anymore.

Capable screamed while looking through the window, and when Toast looked through the window she saw Joe right next to them. There was nothing to do. But she knew Furiosa wouldn’t give up without a fight, and neither was she going to do it.

Along with Joe, there was also his son, Rictus (Toast doubted that was his true name). He was big and full of muscles, and very violent. He had terrorized the sisters.

Inside the car, there were also two of Joe’s boys, one was older and Toast recognized him, he was cruel and helped Joe a lot of times. The other was younger, and she didn’t recognized him.

Joe was pushing the side of his car against the side of the truck all the time, and she can see sparks on the wheels of the vehicles every time they crashed. Suddenly, Toast imagined the truck falling off the bridge and into the lake, all them drowning to death.

But the strange man kept the truck steady, no matter how Joe’s SUV pushed against it.

Rictus was grabbing the youngest boy and…was him throwing him against the truck? It can’t be. Yes, actually, he was, and Toast closed her eyes to not see the boy falling down and going under the wheels. Furiosa was right, that boys were insane.

They were in the middle of the long bridge, when Joe shot something at them. They were chains attached to hooks, like the one Furiosa had tied to the water tank, but smaller and thinner.

Please, let them break, let them break, Toast begged, but they didn’t break.

“They are slowing us down.” The man driving said, and Toast saw that Joe’s SUV was stopping and pulling backwards, and even if it was way smaller than the truck, it was managing to slow it down. Damn were Joe’s modified vehicles and damned were his boys.

“I’ll cut them.” Furiosa said, taking some big pliers.

“No, I’ll do it; they are on my side, not yours.” Before anybody can react, Angharad took the pliers and got out of the cab and onto the metal platform that surrounded the truck.

Toast could see Angharad balancing precariously, and she imagined her falling down, but actually the girl managed to reach the chains and cut them off, and the sisters cheered her while she came back to the cab victorious.

Toast didn’t know what happened. Didn’t know how happened.

One moment Angharad was at the cab’s door already, next moment she was slipping and falling down the truck, right how Toast had feared.

Joe slowed down, but too late.

Toast felt dizzy, she couldn’t see, she couldn’t hear, all she could see was the image of Angharad falling down again and again inside her head.

Capable’s screams brought Toast back to reality.

“Turn around, turn around.” Capable yelled, punching the strange man’s shoulder, crying. Dag and Cheedo were sobbing, holding each other. “We have to go back to her, turn around!”

“No.” The man grunted.

“Are you sure?” Furiosa asked. She looked like she could start crying too, and that scared Toast.

“She went under the wheels.” The man said without slow down. Capable stopped punching him and curled up with Dag and Cheedo, sobbing.

Toast didn’t want to accept it, but she knew he was right. On the review window, she saw that Joe had stopped the car. Soon, they’ll be several minutes ahead of him and in the open road, they couldn’t stop.

Toast saw that Joe had gotten out of the car and was holding something in his arms, something that looked like…

Toast closed her eyes and curled up with the other sisters.

When they reached the end of the bridge, Cheedo broke down, and she began punching and scratching the man’s arm.

“Turn around, turn around. “She yelled.

“Cheedo, stop.” Furiosa said, compassionate, trying to sooth her.

“No, no, I want to go back. Angharad is dead because we are looking for a place that didn’t exist.” Cheedo kept yelling, although she stopped her punchs, tears running down her cheeks. “I want to go back, he’ll forgive us, we’ll be safe…”

“No, you are not going back to him.” Dag said, soothing Cheedo, holding her. The girl stopped yelling and hided her face, curled with the other girls.

“We are not things.” They kept murmuring.

Soon, they reached the open road, destination freedom.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tomorrow I'm going to start posting a new fic, another AU (and I used to dislike them, ha), but it's going to be even more...AU?  
> (Modern setting and the characters own food carts instead of pursuit cars...totally silly and I love the prompt).
> 
> It's going to be a totally Nuxable (Also Cheedo and Dag), cheesy romantic thing.
> 
> I love writting it, the problem is that it's keeping me distracted from writting anything more, like this.
> 
> Sorry!


	5. Capable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once they are on the open road and away from Joe, the truck stops to rest.  
> Needing a moment to mourn Angharad alone, Capable leaves the others drinking/eating, and goes back to the truck.  
> Inside its trailer, she finds a Joe's boy, sobbing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, Capable finds Nux!  
> Finally a chapter without the stress of vehicles racing and crashing, and what not. This has being a blessing to me.
> 
> I hope you like this, let me know your things in the comments.
> 
> Thanks for reading, your kudos and comments keep me going!

The truck was moving fast through the highway, and Capable couldn't stop shaking, curled up with her sisters.

She was still in shock, she couldn't believe it, she didn't want to. But she knew what she had saw, she knew it was true.

When they planned their escape, she has been sure, just like all the sisters, that there was a high possibility of them being caught and being brought back, maybe punished somehow.  
But Capable hadn't thought that any of them might not make it.

Angharad had been the one to bring up the idea of escaping, who had talked with Furiosa, convincing her and easing the fears of the other sisters, who at first had been to scared to think about it.

She had kept them strong and hopeful, and had always taken care of them.  
How were they going to keep going now, without her? It felt impossible. Capable wasn't sure if she even wanted to.

Angharad had always been the one with more hope in the Green Place, and now she was never going to find it, she was never going to see her dreams coming true.

It was unfair.

But Capable was less and less sure about the existence of the Green Place.  
A place without all her sisters would be less green and less good anyway.

“Angharad wanted us to reach the Green Place, she wanted us to be happy there.” Dag said, eyes bright with tears but still trying to comfort the others. “We have to try, we have to keep going.”

Capable knew Dag was right.  
She had to try, she had to keep going, she had to be strong, they had to reach the Green Place, for Angharad

A couple of hours later, Capable felt the truck slowing down and when she looked through the window she saw they were stopping in a Rest Area.  
Furiosa wasn't a fan of stopping to rest, but it seemed safe now, they seemed to have lost Joe's boys. But the truck still had his mark, so they had to still being careful.

They were in need of stopping to rest, though.  
They needed to buy something to eat if they were going to keep driving the whole day, needed to go to the bathroom, and check if everything was still good in the truck after so many crashes.

More important, they needed a moment of calm, a moment to put themselves together, to mourn, to rest from that madness race away from Joe and towards the unknown.

There was some sort of small café in the rest area, and after Furiosa finished checking the truck's engine and all the broken things, they went there.  
They ordered their favourite, comfort drinks, or at least the closest thing you can find in a highway's resting area, and they sat down quietly.

While sipping her tea, Capabe remembered something.  
Angharad had been wearing one of her shawls when they got into the truck's trailer, but it had fallen down her shoulders during the persecution, and she had forgot to bring it with her to the truck's cab.  
Maybe it was still in the trailer.

Capable wanted it. It wasn't Angharad, of course it wasn't, but it was something from her, something to put over her shoulders, close hee eyes and pretend Angharad was still holding her, comfoting her in their horrible travel.

Fighting against the tears, Capable got up, explaining to the others that she wanted to take something from the truck while they finished their drinks and had their deserved rest.

Furiosa stopped her, she wanted them to be together, just in case, and Capable understood her but right now, she needed to be alone.  
With her best pleading eyes, and assuring Furiosa she would be right next to the café, where the truck was parked,and that she would be careful and she'd run into the café if she saw something suspicious, Capable managed to get her permission.

When she opened the trailer, a sound inside it made her heart stop beating for a moment, until she realized it sounded like whimpers. It was impossible.

Her heart beat fast, they hadn't brought anyone else in the trailer with them, but it was clear there was someone inside.

Capable knew she should turn around and run to the coffee, but instead she found herself stepping into the trailer and, lighting it with a lantern Furiosa kept there.

There was a boy curled up against one of the sides, he was obviously one of Joe's boys, and he was sobbing.  
Capable had to run, she knew it, she was going to, but she was too confused.  
What was a Joe's boy doing there, how had he managed to get into the truck? Was he actually sobbing? Why?  
Too many questions for her tired brain, too many shocks in less than a day.

The boy looked at her with wet, startled eyes.

“What are you doing here?” She finally managed to say something.

“He saw everything. My prisoner driving the truck, the girl falling down...and then he...she...she went under the wheels...” He whimpered.  
Capable knew who 'she' was, Angharad. 'He', was Joe.

She was about to run to Furiosa when the boy started hitting his head against the floor, hard.

“Ey, no, stop that!” Capable rushed towards him, kneeling down next to him and placing her hand between his head and the floor, stopping him.  
The boy rested his forehead against her palm, and Capable felt his tears.

“My fault.” He mumbled, and even if she thought it was true, Capable couldn't be that cruel with someone who was suffering, who seemed to regret his actions.

Angharad shawl was next to them, and Capable took it before lying down next to the boy, meeting his eyes. It was silly, but the shawl made her feel a bit safer.

“I thought this was going to be my opportunity. I thought I was going to do something great for Immortan Joe, to prove him that I'm the best of us, that I deserve his love...” The boy said, looking at Capable.

That was what Joe's boys wanted, the approval of a horrible man?  
Angharad had told her sisters to pity Joe's boys, she had told them they were brainwashed by Joe, and that he used them as he wanted, in a similar way to the sisters.

Capable had never really believed her, and she was sure neither did the other sisters. Joe's boys scared them, even if they barely saw them, they were Joe's loyal employees who followed all his orders. She hated them.

But now, Capable wondered if Angharad had been right.  
This sobbing boy in front of her didn't seem dangerous, though she would better not forget that he was.

He seemed devastated, broken, and Capable couldn't help but feel sympathy towards him.  
Maybe Angharad was right, maybe Joe had used him too, brainwashing him and turning him into a slave who would die for his love and approval.

She reached out, gently brushing her hand over his cheeks, wiping his tears.  
At that, the boy stopped moving, stopped breathing even, and he looked at her with wide eyes. He almost looked scared.

“Joe's doesn't have love to give, he doesn't know what is that.” Capable said softly, but the boy wasn't listening, he was murmuring things again.

“I was going to bring back his daughters, he was going to be proud of me, his daughters were going to be back and safe ...” He was saying, and Capable looked at him in disbelief.

“You know we are not really his daughters, don't you?” She asked. That's just how he called them in front of people, to hide the horrible true. But his boys must know it.

“I-I know...he adopted you...but you are his daughters anyway...” He was looking at her with confused eyes, and Capable wondered if all Joe's boys were this stupid and blind, or if she had found a particulary stupid one.

“We are not.” She said harshly. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying not to yell at him. “That's what he says, but we are not. We are...” She couldn't say it. “We are prisioners... We are not free...he forces us to be with him, pretending...”

“Not his daughters?” The boy was frowning confused, obviously he didn't understand. Joe was like a father to him, it seemed, or maybe even like a god. “I thought... you don't want to be with him?”

Capable shook her head. “No...he makes us, we are not free to leave...we are like things to him, he owns us and he can do what he wants to us...we...he hurts us...he does things to us...”

That was all she could bring herself to say, and she was shivering now.  
The boy seemed to realize, and he reached out, as if to stroke her cheek like she had done to him. Capable gasped, but the boy was already retreating, dropping his hand back to the floor.

“Furiosa kidnapped you...” The boy said, and Capable shook her head.

“No, we begged her to help us escape from Joe, to take us to a safe place, somewhere where he couldn't hurt us.” Capable explained, trying to keep her voice calm, trying to be patience. “We are going to a place were she used to live, where we are going to be safe, they are going to protect us from Joe, we'll be free...”

“I thought you wanted to come back, I thought she kidnapped you.” Capable could see the wheels of the boy's brain turning, and she let herself have hope. “I thought you were happy. I didn't know he hurted you...”

“Are you going to try to bring us back to Joe again?” Capable asked bluntly. She needed to know.

The boy seemed very confused and torn.

“I...he saved me, I owe him my life, I owe him everything...he and the other boys are my family, I don't have anything else...” The boy began, and Capable felt her stomach drop. “But...I don't want you to be hurt...I don't want you to do things you don't want...”

Maybe there was hope, then.  
Capable didn't want to pressure the boy more for now, he seemed about to break down again.

By the light of the lantern, he almost looked like a skull, not only because of how skinny he was, but because the scars of his face resembling that.  
Capable knew that Joe's boys did that, marking themselves with scars. It was terrifying

Gently, Capable brushed her fingers over his scars, and the boy froze again. He looked at her with wide eyes, he almost looked scared of her.

“I'm not going to hurt you.” Capable whispered. It hurt her think that the boy might be thinking she would hurt him.

The boy nodded with a hint of a smile. He was rather adorable.

“I'm Capable, what's your name.” She asked, trying to ease him.

“Nux.” The boy, Nux, replied.

“Joe doesn't love you, Nux.” Capable saw she had hurt the boy saying that, and even if it was for the best, she felt horrible. “He doesn't love anybody, he doesn't care about anybody but himself.”

“You don't owe him anything. You can be free, like us, if you want. Joe is a monster and he doesn't deserve your love.” She knew it was too much for the boy to process, but she wanted him to know.

Suddenly, Capable heard the voices of her sisters and Furiosa approaching, and she quickly sat up.  
The boy seemed terrified again.

“Stay here, alright?” She instructed to Nux. “Don't make a noise.”

The boy nodded nervously and Capable rushed out of the trailer, locking the door behind her.

“I wanted to take this with me.” Capable showed the shawl to Furiosa.  
She hoped she wouldn't open the trailer and find the boy. Capable didn't know what Furiosa would do to him, but probably nothing good. She didn't know how she could convince her that the boy wasn't dangerous anymore.

Furiosa just looked at her with sad, compassionate eyes, and nodded. She didn't look into the trailer.

Back inside the cab, Capable threw the shawl over her sisters and herself, and snuggled with them.  
She needed to think what she was going to do with the boy.


	6. Cheedo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A storm turns the road into a mess of water and mud, making impossible for the wheels to keep moving forward, as they sink into the mud.  
> Are they going to stay trapped there forever? It worries Cheedo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the hits, kudos and comments!
> 
> This time is a Cheedo chapter (although I can't stop myself from doing nuxable references.
> 
> As always, apologizes if there are mistakes and if my English is not good enough.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this, please let me know your thougts in the comments.  
> Your kudos and comments keep me writting!

Cheedo had been leaning over Dag to see through the window since they left the highway and took secondary roads, along the country side.  
She couldn’t remember the last time she had been outside the city, it had been years and years ago. And even inside the city, Joe barely allowed the sisters to walk outside his garden.

The landscape was pretty much desert, but Cheedo looked at it with curious eyes anyway, thinking it was the most beautiful place she could remember seeing.  
Just one little road, and then kilometers and kilometers of countryside everywhere.  
It felt like freedom.

But then, a storm began, clouding the sky, making the day almost as dark as the night.  
Thunders sounding like strong drums, like if the sky were breaking apart.  
Lightning around them, through the sky, everywhere.

It scared Cheedo.  
She snuggled between Dag and Capable, hiding her face to not see the lightning, wishing she wouldn’t have to hear the thunders.

Heavy rain was falling against the truck, and Cheedo was afraid it could make it slip and crash.  
But Furiosa was a good driver, keeping the truck steady, and Cheedo trusted nothing bad would happen to them.

That’s why she looked up from Capable’s shoulder, startled, when she felt the truck sliding from side to side of the road.  
She saw the truck sliding outside the road, and it took her all her will power not to scream.

“It’s okay, there was water and mud on the road and the wheels slipped and we got outside the road, nothing it’s going to happen, I’m going to drive back to the road.” Furiosa said in a calmed voice, as if to sooth the sisters, who were murmuring things in fear.

Cheedo saw Furiosa had stopped the truck pretty easily, without it sliding side to side anymore, so maybe they had overreacted.  
But they couldn’t help themselves; they weren’t used to travel, less under such a heavy storm.

Her fears returned when Furiosa started the engine again and tried to drive. The truck didn’t move, the wheels splashed water and mud everywhere, but they weren’t moving forward at all.

“What’s happening?” Toast asked, and Furiosa didn’t answer, still hitting the gas. That made Cheedo worry even more.

“Got stuck in the mud.” The strange man replied. “Truck’s too heavy. Wheels are sunk in the mud.”

That didn’t sound good.

“We are trapped here?” Cheedo asked, panicking.

“No, we’ll drive out the mud, it’s ok.” Furiosa replied, suddenly sounding very tired.

“You got something to help the wheels?” The strange man again.

“There are some metal plates inside the trailer. We put them next to the wheels, try to put them under them, see if it’s easier for them to drive over the mud then, if they don’t sink more.” Furiosa said. “Let’s wait until it’s raining less heavily. Last thing we want is a lightning hitting us.”

Cheedo hoped it was a bad joke. Toast seemed to notice her panic, because she turned towards her.  
“A lightning cannot hit you while you are inside the truck.” She explained. “And even outside, the possibilities of one hitting you are low, though it could happen, so better we stay inside until the storm passes."

That was good to know.

Cheedo noticed Capable looking backwards with a worried expression, towards the trailer, but when Cheedo arched her eyebrows at her as a silent question, Capable shook her head and leaned against the door.

They spent the next hour listening to the radio.  
Dag was caressing her hair, braiding and unbraiding it, combing it with her fingers, and she was telling her how storms were actually good, how the rain nurses the earth so there can be life.

It was nice, if it weren’t for the lightning and thunder.

Finally, the storm stopped, as suddenly as it had started.

“Let’s take the metal plates and try to get out of the mud.” Furiosa said.

“I’ll go!” Capable was already jumping out the truck’s cab and rushing towards the trailer.  
She seemed be feeling more eager to help than Cheedo, who was actually feeling a bit sleepy.

Furiosa, Toast and the strange man followed Capable.  
Cheedo decided to wait inside the cab until she knew if she was able to help them or not still a bit wary of the lightning coming back.  
Dag seemed to decide to stay with her, and Cheedo felt very grateful, she didn’t like to be alone, it made her feel vulnerable.

From the back of the truck she could hear shouts, voices yelling at each other.  
Cheedo and Dag looked at one another, confused, and got out the cab.

“He’s not a threat!” Capable's voice was yelling. “He’s going to help us, he’s leaving Joe behind, just like us! Furiosa, please!”

Capable was standing inside the trailer, a boy almost hidden behind her, although he was too tall for that. He was nodding eagerly and staring wide eyed at Furiosa, who was aiming at him with a gun.  
Capable shifted until she was totally in front of the boy, as if to shield him from Furiosa, looking at her defiantly.

He was a Joe’s boy, there was no doubt, why were Capable protecting him? That boys were dangerous, they did everything Joe asked them, they were terrifying…

Although that boy didn’t seem so terrifying, neither so dangerous. He just seemed scared. His scars did look scary though, resembling a skull.

“Not unnecessary killing.” Dag’s voice behind Cheedo. “Angharad said it, we agreed.”

“Then let’s tie him up and leave him here.” Toast said, practical, but all knew it would be almost like killing him.

“No!” Capable cried out. “No, he wants to help us.” She pleaded, and at that the boy started nodding nervously again, his blue eyes shifting from one sister to the other before stop on Furiosa.

Cheedo didn’t trust the boy, she couldn’t, but she trusted her sister. If she wanted the boy to stay with them, then there must be a reason. Besides, they couldn’t just kill him, he was a human being!

Furiosa stared at the boy from a long moment before replying. “Alright, out of the trailer, you two.”

Capable and the boy jumped out of the trailer, he was still behind her, but Furiosa kept pointing the gun at him.

“We place the iron plates, you drive.” Furiosa said to the boy, and Capable seemed very relieved.

“Yes, yes, I can do that! I’m a good driver.” The boy replied. It was the first time Cheedo listened to him talk, and he sounded very eager, and very little threatening. “I’ll get you out the mud.”

“You go with him.” Furiosa instructed to Capable, and the she gave the gun to Toast. “And you watch him, if he does anything suspicious, you shoot.”

Capable bit her lip, but the boy was already running to the truck’s cab, and she went with him, Toast following them.

Cheedo went with Dag, Furiosa and the strange man to take the iron plates, Dag helping her to carry one.  
They placed them under the truck, next to the wheels, their tips almost under the wheels.

Cheedo was afraid the boy might hit the gas too soon and run over them, but he waited until they were out of the truck’s path to start the engine.  
It took a while, but eventually the wheels rolled over the iron plates and the truck moved forward.

Dag and Cheedo cheered in joy and they rushed with Furiosa and the strange man to take the iron plates and place them next to the wheels again.  
This time, it didn’t work.

The iron plates sunk into the mud under the truck’s weight, it seemed the mud was deeper there.  
Furiosa roared in frustration.

The cab’s door opened and the boy jumped outside.  
“Ey!” Toast yelled at him, aiming the gun, and looking to Furiosa for instructions.

The boy looked at Furiosa too, shifting nervously, eyes wide.  
“Do you have something we can use to tie the truck to the tree?” He pointed at it, looking nervously from Toast’s gun to Furiosa. “We can use it, so the truck won’t sink more into the mud while I try to drive it out of it.”

Furiosa nodded and walked to the front of the truck, it seemed there was a chain there, coming from inside the truck as Furiosa pulled at it.  
Cheedo hoped it was long enough.

The strange man grunted something, taking the chain from Furiosa’s hands, and he ran towards the tree.  
Once there, he tied it up around it.

Once the chain was secured, the boy hit the gas.

Furiosa was now pushing the truck, and although Cheedo knew she was very weak, she pushed it too, and so it did Dag and Toast. The truck was heavy, but they were going to do everything they can to help. Every little help…

It took a while, but finally, slowly, the truck began moving forwards again, and after what it seemed an eternity, it was out of the mud.  
Cheedo and Dag were to tired too cheer this time.

They got into the cab again, where the boy was babbling something to Furiosa, seemed weirdly excited, considering his situation.

“I can drive, I can drive through a path without mud until we get to the road again.” He was saying, but Furiosa silenced him just with one look, and the boy shifted to the back seat with the sisters, sitting down between the window and Capable.

After what seemed an eternity, they were back in the road.

Cheedo had been looking at the boy since they sit down again.  
He had been looking through the window in a way very similar to how she had done it not far ago, eyes wide and lighted up.  
From time to time, he smiled at Capable, who smiled back.

He didn’t look dangerous, and looking at him and Capable smiling to each other was rather adorable, but Cheedo didn’t know if he should trust him.  
Although, he had just helped them, hadn’t him? And Capable seemed very eased around him, they were almost snuggling now.

Cheedo decided to just spy him for now, hidden behind Dag’s arm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From the next chapter, and specially when they find the vuvalini, things are going to be diferent than in the movie (althoug I keep the spirit I hope), because it would be very dificult to put things like the road war and everything, in a sort of modern au.


	7. Dag

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On their way to the Green Place, Dag has the opportunity to get to know Nux a bit more.  
> Once they reach their destination, though, she'll find is not quite what they had been expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy this new chapter.  
> Please, let me know yout thoughts in the comments.
> 
> As always, apolgizes if there are mistakes, and if my English is not good enough.
> 
> Your comments and kudos keep me going.

There wasn’t much to see once they were back in the highway, just a mass of roads.  
Furiosa had said they were close to their destination, and that was good, but Dag much preferred the secondary roads they had been using for most part of the day.

They were less crowded, seemed less dangerous, far better landscapes. Dag liked the quietness. It made her feel calm, like nothing bad could happen again, like she was out of the world. And now they were back in it.

She had loved the storm, so powerful, the rain cleaning everything. It was a pity Cheedo had been scared of it.  
The storm had also leaded them to making that weird discover inside the trailer.

Dag looked at the boy, Nux was his name, who was asleep, his back against the door and an arm wrapped around Capable. Her sister was asleep too, cuddled against the boy’s chest. What an odd sight.

Dag has being wary of the boy, he was one of Joe’s and was there most surely because he was trying to bring them back to Joe.  
She had recognized him, thanks to his scars, he had been to boy chasing them and who Furiosa had got out of the road. It seemed he had survived. Back then, he had seemed pretty committed to stop their escape.

But Capable being so protective over him has made her reconsider. After all that time together, she had learnt to trust her sisters.  
Capable wasn’t stupid or reckless, she wouldn’t befriend a threat, neither she would trust him like that if he were dangerous for them.

Still, and even if the boy had just tried to help them since they found it, Dag was still observing him whenever she could, just in case, though by now she was almost sure the boy was on their side. Why, she didn’t know, probably because Capable, considering how the boy looked at her, almost seeming to adore her. But there must be something else.

Dag had got the opportunity to talk with the boy alone before they went to the highway, which helped her to trust him more.

They had stopped the truck, checking if it was alright after the accident in the mud.  
Dag and Nux task had been filling the water tank, although Dag had mostly just watched at the boy doing it, since he seemed to know a lot about vehicles and its insides, which were a big mystery for Dag.

She had decided to talk with him there, without Capable to worry around and without the others to intimidate him. The boy seemed a bit tense around them, no wonder considering Furiosa and Toast had aimed a gun at them and had talked about killing him.

“So, you coming with us?” She had asked. The boy had looked at her with startled eyes, as if he weren’t expect her to talk with him, but had nodded and smiled at her.  
And somehow, he gave her innocent vibes, in a weird way, even if he was one of Joe’s vicious boys, even if he looked like a skull.  
Blue big eyes were staring at her excitedly.

“You better know that if you try something against us again, this time nobody is going to save you.” Innocent vibes or not, better make everything clear. Dag didn’t like violence at all, but she would help them to get rid of the boy if he dared to do something to any of her sisters.

“Furiosa will throw me under the wheels or worse.” Nux had nodded solemnly. At last he had that clear, but Dag hoped there was something more than fear making him help them. Probably, the crush he seemed to have in her sister.

“So, that is, you come with us because you are scared of Furiosa?” Dag asked, and the boy seemed a bit confused.

“No…I mean…I just, kind of ended up in the trailer, failed the Immortan…” Dag cringed at the mention of Joe, couldn’t help it. The boy was sounding strangely heartbroken. “I didn’t know what to do, so I just hid. And then Capable found me, and she didn’t throw me under the wheels, she…she was kind with me, she told me things…and then, when the others found me, she protected me…it was so chrome…”

The boy’s lighted up when he talked about Capable, he had a fool smile on his face and wasn’t making much sense anymore. Dag had to admit it, it was kind of cute.

“So, our sweet, beautiful, Capable is the reason you are here.” Her words made the boy blush and babble nonsense, and Dag almost laugh. Yes, he was kind of cute, oddly enough.

“I want to help her…all you, I mean…” He corrected himself quickly, but Dag knew Capable was higher than anything in Nux’s ranking of priorities. “She said you were Immortan Joe’s prisoners, she said he hurt you. I didn’t know.” 

Nux was sounded honest, a bit heartbroken, and Dag believed him.

“Joe was good with me. He gave me a home when I was a kid, he gave me a job, he helped me when I was ill…” The boy was saying, but Dag knew better. All what Joe had done had been to manipulate the boy, to make him believe that he loved him and that he was the good of the story, so the boy would do anything he wanted. Joe had tried to do that to the sisters too, at first. It hadn’t worked.

“I couldn’t imagine him hurting his daughters, I mean, his…you. It’s confusing…” The boy was saying sadly, and Dag pitied him.  
He was so blind, Joe had done a good work on him. No wonder why Capable had felt like taking him under her wing.  
But they needed to start showing him the truth soon, to break his heart, or he might become a problem again. 

“Immortan Joe won’t want me back anymore. I failed, he saw, I failed catastrophically, I’m a disappointment…” The boy sounded heartbroken again, and probably if Dag had been Capable, she would have fussed to comfort him. But she wasn’t, and Dag had more important things to do, like test the boy’s loyalty.

“Would you be back if you could, if you hadn’t failed, do you want to go back to Immortan Joe?” She asked suspiciously. If he said yes, Dag would make sure that Furiosa kicked him out of the truck, cute looking as he was or not.

“I’m not sure…” The boy seemed confronted. “He saved me. He gave me a family.” He admitted. “But I won’t bring you to him, not against your will, not knowing he’ll hurt you.” That was enough for Dag.

“It’s just…I still owe him everything…I don’t have anything but what he gave me…” Dag wasn’t very happy about Nux mourning the lost love of damn Joe, but the boy sounded so miserable that Dag squeezed his shoulder awkwardly.

The boy grinned at her, looking like an unsettling happy skull.  
What was another stray on her family anyway.  
He was weird, and that suited them.  
He was running away from Joe too, even if he didn’t realize it yet.

***

Nux joining their little group had made the travel much more entertaining. Meaning that he talked more than Furiosa and the strange man combined and multiplied by ten.  
He seemed to be boiling with restrained energy, flinching on his seat whenever Capable wasn’t snuggling against him.

If at first he had seem very shy and awkward, staying quiet and only murmuring things to Capable from time to time. But since his chat with Dag he seemed to have unleashed, seemed more comfortable with them.  
It made Dag proud. It also made her feel better, it made more evident than Nux was on their side.  
It made Capable happier, and that counted too.

Soon enough, though, she was starting to get tired of listening to the unceasing babbling of Nux, but Capable was still looking at him with bright eyes. Let them be disgustingly happy and in love.

A couple of hours later, shy Cheedo had joined them and had told him everything she knew about storms, most of which had been taught by Toast while they waited for the storm to stop.  
In return, Nux had told her the best ways to drive under heavy rain. 

Dag wasn’t sure that the knowledge was going to be useful for Cheedo, but the sentiment was appreciated. And who knew, maybe in the future Cheedo would find herself driving under a storm.  
A month ago, they hadn’t known they were going to be running from Joe, for real.

After another hour, Toast started talking with Nux too, still a bit snarling and wary, though.  
Toast wanted to learn more about vehicles, she always wanted to know more about everything, and Nux seemed to know a lot about that, he was a mechanic, apparently, and he seemed more than happy to share his knowledge.

Dag had been bored of them soon.

It was dark outside and Dag decided she has had enough of watching Capable and Nux sleeping.  
She snuggled with Cheedo, threw her legs over Capable, and fell asleep.  
In the morning, she’d be in the Green Place. She couldn’t wait.

***  
The first sun rays woke up Dag. She tried not to move, not wanting to wake up Cheedo, who was snuggled against her chest.  
Nux was awake too, blue eyes looking over Capable, curled up against him and still asleep.  
Toast was awake too, looking through the window.

It seemed they were inside a town now, and Furiosa stopped the truck in front of a big house.  
It seemed to have been beautiful, but now it was old, poorly maintained and seemed a bit creepy.  
A big garden surrounded it, but it seemed neglected, herbs and bushes everywhere, hiding the path to the house’s door.

Was this the Green Place?  
It wasn’t like Furiosa had said.  
Everything would be better than Joe’s, but it was a bit disappointing. A bit scary, too.

Capable and Cheedo were awake now, looking at the house and looking at each other, without saying a word.  
Furiosa was quiet, too.  
Not surprisingly, so was the strange man.  
Surprisingly enough, Nux was too.

“Is this the Green Place?” Toast asked, finally voicing what they all were thinking.

“Yes, I think it is…I remember it…but it’s different…” Furiosa said, sounding far away.

“It looks so old…do you think there’s still people living here?” Cheedo asked, and as if to answer her, the curtains of a window moved. Someone was looking at them.

A few minutes later, when they were finally moving out of the truck, the wooden door of the house opened, and six women walked outside, looking at them.

“I was a vuvalini. I’m Furiosa, the daughter of Mary Jobassa.” Furiosa said, voice strangled, from the fence’s door.

The women were rushing towards them now, out of the fence, and the youngest of them looked into Furiosa’s eyes, deep, before knock their foreheads together.

“It’s her, it’s our Furiosa.” She said.

Dag didn’t know what to do, feeling out of place, and she held Cheedo’s hand.  
But soon the elder women were walking towards her and her sisters, holding their hands, murmuring comforting things, asking questions, and it was nice and also a bit too much.

“Let’s go inside, you have to tell us everything.” One of them said.

They looked at the strange man and Nux warily, but Furiosa assured them they were friends and reliable.  
Dag could understand their fears perfectly.

The inside of the house looked old too, maybe a bit less poorly maintained but still a bit neglected.  
And it was incredibly big, and slightly scary. Like if you could find a ghost in any corner.

But the women were warm and kind with them, giving them water and hot tea, and things to eat.  
They leaded them into the sitting room, so Furiosa could tell them their story.

The strange man was sat down in a chair a bit apart from the group, and Nux seemed to have wanted to do the same, but Capable has held his hand, and so the boy was now sat down on the carpet, right in front of the armchair where she was sat.  
The elder women and Furiosa were also sat down in armchairs, and Cheedo, Toast and Dag shared a couch.

And so Furiosa began to relate her story, and the story of the sisters. Dag stopped paying attention. She didn’t want to remember it. How she had been kidnaped from her family, not knowing about them anymore, when she was still just a teen. Their life with Joe.  
No, she didn’t want to think about it anymore.

The vuvalini seemed to pass from anger, to horror, to sadness, to anger again. Mostly anger. And Dag could understand them.

Cheedo was snuggling with her, hiding from Furiosa’s story, and Dag held her tight.  
Toast wasn’t hiding, he was staring at nothing, eyes bright with hate and anger.

Capable was curled up on herself.  
His boy’s face showed a mix of different feelings as he listened to Furiosa, mostly confusion and perplexity, and sometimes he glanced up to Capable with an anxious look, until she seemed to realize it and stroked his head softly.

Dag would be sorry for him, they were breaking his perfect idea of savior Immortan Joe, but honestly, she thought you had to be an idiot to not realize Joe was an asshole.  
He seemed happy enough with Capable petting him, though.

“But what happened here?” Furiosa asked when she finally finished their story. “Where are the others? What happened to the house? It all looks so…so…” She didn’t seem to find the words to finish.

The women looked at each other, sighing heavily.  
Dag couldn’t understand very well what they were talking about, but it didn’t sound good.  
Something about money, mostly.  
How the Green Place stopped having almost all of its funds, institutions saying their budgets were to tight now to help them.

How there wasn’t enough money to help women properly. They couldn’t offer them jobs anymore, the sponsors had stopped helping them. They could offer them a room in the house, and sometimes that was enough, but other times they needed money too, sometimes they had children to take care, and the Green Place couldn’t really provide anymore.

And so less and less women could help them, working there without a salary, because they needed money to survive, so they had to leave. And now, there were only those six women there, five of the originals and one of their daughters.

And so, the Green Place closed. It still helped women who needed them, of course, housing them, but it was in decadency.  
Without more money, they couldn’t really do good at their job. It was sad, but it was true.  
And you don’t have much money when you are mostly charity.

Neither they had enough money to take care of the house properly, but they didn’t want to sell it. Too many things had happened there, they have lived too much there to let it go.

For a second, Dag thought she could see the ghostly shadows of the women who had, at some point, lived there.  
She shivered.

It could be worse, she knew, but she couldn’t help to be disappointed.  
The Green Place has seemed different in her dreams.

She had imagined a big, powerful house, with a green garden. Full of women voices, teaching and helping each other, full of live.  
And yes, the house was big, even bigger than Joe’s, a true mansion, and so was its garden.  
But it was rustled, it was empty, ghosts of its past everywhere.

Furiosa seemed taken aback too. She hadn’t said anything since the vuvalini explained the situation. She was just staring at nowhere, lost in her thoughts, probably remembering the Green Place as it used to be.

Probably it was much worse for her. Like…realizing something you loved in your childhood is not as great as it was now that you are an adult. That something you used to love had been spoiled by time.

She looked so heartbroken Dag wanted to hug her.

The women were now talking to her and her sisters too, trying to comfort them. They assured they could stay there, that they would protect them and take care of them.  
Now Dag wanted to cry.

It might not be the Green Place she had imagined, but it was still the Green Place. Not Many Mothers, but some mothers, all them wanting to help them. And they had each other.  
That was the important thing, that was enough for now.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nux and Capable talk about them and their past with each other during the night they spend at the Green Place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, this chapter was an excuse to write disgustingly cheesy Nuxable with no plot. Apologizes.
> 
> Warning: Mentions of self harm and suicide.
> 
> Apologizes if there're mistakes or if my English is not good enough, it's not my first lenguage.

Nux was trying to listen to the vuvalini as attentive as he could, they were talking about the stars, explaining things about them he didn’t know. But he was getting too distracted by Capable’s warmth against him, her hair tickling him.  
They were all sat down in the garden after dinner, enjoying a warm night and a clear sky, before going to sleep.

Nux had tried to stay slightly away from the group since they arrived to the Green Place, intimidated by the women, who looked at him with wary eyes, and feeling very out of place.  
But Capable had held his hand all the time, keeping him close to her, making him feel very cared and less out of place.

He didn’t know how she could be so sweet with him, though, how she could bear to be there cuddled up in his arms, when she knew he had been one of Joe’s boys.  
She should be disgusted by him, she should hate him, but she didn’t. 

She had actually comforted him back when she had found him crying and made a pitiful mess in the trailer, even though she should have threw him away. She had been kind and sweet with him, gentler and more caring than anybody had been with Nux before. She had told him things nobody had told him before. She had made him question his entire world.

She had hid him, and when the others had found him, Capable had defended him, had protected him. She had even stepped between him and Furiosa’s gun, he couldn’t believe it. She had made sure nobody hurt him, and back in the truck she had settled down next to him, actually curling up against him when she fall asleep. Nux had thought his heart was going to burst out of his chest, as fast as it had been beating.

Capable was the best thing to ever happen to him, Nux was sure, and nothing could go bad while she were with him.

Eventually, the other girls had started talking with him too, and in the short time together it had begun to feel like if they were actually a family, it was starting to feel almost as he felt with the family Joe had given him. The feelings scared Nux a bit, but he hadn’t told anybody, not wanting to worry Capable.

Nux had listened to Furiosa explaining the situation to the vuvalini, feeling horrified and very confused. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He believed Furiosa, but what she was saying was something totally opposed to the image Nux had of Joe.

He had known Joe had some dark business, of course, drugs and guns and that, but he honestly hadn’t known about the kids. He hadn’t imagined Joe sold them for who knew what. He hadn’t imagine what he did to the girls, to his ‘not daughters’. It was just too horrible.

How could all that be true?

For him, Joe had always been the father who saved him and gave him a life and everything. Who did the same for other kids.

How could he have been so blind?

Furiosa’s words had broken everything he had ever believed him, had torn apart all his life.  
And feeling his distress, Capable had stroked his head, comforting him even if she should be the one being comforted. Because that was the way Capable was, gentle, caring. It made Nux feel all warm inside in a way he had never felt.

Capable was shifting closer to him and Nux came back to reality, wrapping his arm around her without really thinking. Capable just smiled and rested her head against his chest. Nux was sure she could hear his heart beating fast.

The couch in which they were snuggled up was slightly away from the group, though close enough to listen to them talk about the stars and to not make them worry.

At first, Nux had been a bit worried thinking the women might tell him off for being so touchy with Capable, after all she had endured, but one of them had thrown a blanket over them before sat down on a garden armchair, and Nux had smiled grateful and relieved.

Still, he didn’t understand how Capable allowed him to touch her at all. How she actually seemed to seek his touch, cuddling with him whenever she had the chance. He wasn’t going to complain, he could spend all night and all day like that.

Capable kindness didn’t stop Nux from worrying about his past working for Joe, about how he had helped his business, it didn’t stop him from keep blaming himself. It didn’t stop him from keep wondering about the Joe he had thought he knew, the man who had taken him from an orphanage and given him his family, helping him while sick.

“Capable.” Nux called softly, hoping the others wouldn’t hear them.

“Yes?” She whispered, looking up from his chest.

“I…it’s not that I don’t believe what Furiosa had said, because of course I do, I believe everything, and I believe everything you tell me…it’s just…there’s all so confusing…I…” He was regretting it and he hadn’t even started talking.

But Capable caressed his cheek sweetly. “Tell me what’s worrying you.”

“Joe…he gave me everything I have, I told you…” At that, Capable frowned, and Nux was scared he had upset her, but she didn’t say anything, so he continued.

“He took me from a horrible orphanage, he gave me a family, he gave me a job, he took care of me…”   
Capable nodded, he had already told her that.

“Nux, he did that because he needs loyal people working for him. And acting that way, he would make you love him, pretending to be a savior. He’d make you feel like he loves and cares about you, like you owe him, which it’s exactly how you feel now. But he doesn’t have love in him, he only wanted to use you.” Nux knew Capable probably was right, Joe was a bad person, but still, it hurt him to hear that.

He had thought Joe loved him. He had wanted Joe to love him, had tried so hard to get his love…

“It’s not only that, though, he really did take care of me…I…I’m sick.” Nux finally said what he had been trying to say. He gently took Capable’s hand and brushed it over the two small lumps on his neck. He had been careful trying hide them from her until now, under his clothes.

He can see Capable’s eyes wide, looking at him full of concern. Nux hadn’t wanted to worry her, but he needed her to know, so he could understand him. He started talking again before she can say anything.

“I don’t want to you to worry, I’m fine, I promise. Doctors said chemo is working pretty well” He said, trying to calm her, but Capable shook her head.

“Of course I worry…I had no idea…” She was murmuring.

Her hand was brushing over his lumps again, her eyes were wet, and Nux felt horrible. Nux hadn’ t wanted to scare her, to make her worry so much. But honestly, he hadn’t expected it. 

Even if he felt guilty, Nux couldn’t help but feel all warm inside knowing that Capable cared so much about him, worried so much about his wellbeing. Suddenly, it made him feel more loved than all his years with Joe. Nobody had showed him so much love and concern ever, sick or not.

Nux held Capable tighter, and she buried her face on his chest. Nux brushed his fingers through her hair, gently, he had always wanted to do it. It was fluffy and the curls tangled on his fingers. He tried to comb it with his fingers carefully, hoping to sooth her a bit.

Nux saw Furiosa was looking in their direction, maybe she had heard their fuss, and he didn’t know if she had heard their conversation. Without a word, she looked away again.

“I promise I’m alright.” Nux murmured into Capable’s ear. “Chemo is working, the doctors said they are going to remove the lumps soon, and I’m going to be perfect.” Maybe he was saying it a bit too optimistically, but he wasn’t lying either.

Capable looked at him, still seeming worried but more calmed.   
“I’m sorry.” She whispered.

“Don’t be, I’m going to be fine.” Nux smiled, hoping to reassure her.

“No, I mean…” Capable bit her lip. “Sorry if I overreacted, if maybe my reaction wasn’t appropriate…if I bothered you…”

Was she apologizing for caring about him, for showing him love, for making him feel more important than in all his life? Nux couldn’t have her thinking that. But he didn’t know how to put his feelings in words, so he just pulled her close again and kissed her forehead, feeling happy and proud when he saw he had made her smile.

“I’m happy you care about me…” He murmured, blushing.

“Of course I care.” Capable looked at him like she couldn’t believe he would doubt she cared. But he couldn’t help it.

“Anyway…Joe helped me a lot, he found me good doctors, he made sure I had a good treatment…and you said he’s evil and does horrible things, and I believe you, but he did all that good things for me…” Nux shifted awkwardly. He worried when he saw Capable was frowning.

“Well…I’m glad he did that for you, I’m very glad, and I hate to feel like that about him.” Capable said, and she kept talking before Nux could apologize for made her feel that way.

“But I don’t think he did it for the goodness of his heart, I can’t believe it. I think he did it because that way you’d feel like you owe him ever more, like you owe him your life. So, he owns you. Doing so, he would make sure he had your loyalty and love forever.” Capable’s words didn’t hurt as much as they did previously, but they still hurt. “It actually worked, you love him, you think you owe him everything so you did everything he told you.”

Nux knew that somehow Capable was right, even if it hurt. He had wanted to believe Joe had taken care of him because he loved him too, just like Nux loved him. But now that Nux knew Joe’s full story, Capable’s words made sense.

“He tried to do something like that with us too, at first.” Capable explained. “For example…Do you remember Angharad’s scars, on her face?” Nux noticed she was shaking at the mention of the lost sister, and he brushed his hand through her hair, trying to comfort her.

“Angharad did that herself, years before we thought we could escape, she cut her wrist too. Wanted to die, so she wouldn’t have to be Joe’s slave anymore...” Capable sounded like she was crying, and Nux gently held her head up, and he dared to play soft kisses all over her face, her cheek, her temple, her forehead, her frown, her nose, until Capable was almost smiling. Nux knew kisses made her smile. She pulled away to keep talking.

“Joe took care of her. Told her how worried he was, how important she was for him…just to make her think that he cared, to manipulate her. It didn’t work though.” Nux had to admit it sounded similar to what Joe had done to him.

“All lies, of course. When Angharad cut her face again, until she left scars, Joe went mad at her. He yelled at her she was his and wasn’t allowed to do that, that she couldn’t damage his things, including herself. He did the same to Toast when he cut her hair short.”

Capable was shivering hard, seeming lost in bad memories, and Nux held her tight, murmuring comforting things. He didn’t know what to do, what to say, but he hoped he was helping, somehow. 

After a few minutes, when Capable had stopped shivering, she pulled away and looked at him, smiling sadly.

“We are alright now.” She said, and Nux believed her. “We are far from Joe, we are together, and we are free, he would never use us again.”

At that, Nux could only grin. As long as Capable were with him, he could do anything. And he would do anything for her.

***

That night, the vuvalini gave the girls a big room to sleep, and another next to it and smaller for Nux and the unnamed man. Furiosa slept in another room with the younger vuvalini.

Nux had fallen asleep quick, the extenuating events of the previous days had left him feeling very weak.  
When he had been asleep for a couple of hours, Nux woke up with a start, startled when he felt a hand over his mouth.  
For a heart-stopping moment, Nux thought Joe had appeared there somehow and was about to kill him for treason.

But the hand was too small and too soft, and in the dark of the room, Nux could see the red shine of Capable’s hair.

She was tugging at his hand now, so Nux got out of the bed and followed her.

Capable lead him out of the room and into hers, where her sisters were fast asleep. She gently pushed Nux onto the empty bed, until he was lying down, and then she crawled next to him and rested her head on his chest, like she had done when they were asleep on the truck.  
Nux wrapped her arms around her, trying not to shake, his heart fluttering in his chest.

“Are you okay?” He asked quietly, and he rested his cheek on her head, against the soft pillow of his hair.

“Yes, but I couldn’t sleep, I’m better now.” Capable replied, making Nux feel all warm inside again, as she always did when she told him things like that.

He was better now too.  
There wasn’t better way to sleep than with Capable on his arms, snuggling together, no matter if it was in a bed or in a truck.


End file.
